Bessent To Skip South Korea Trade Talks Due To Scheduling Conflict Even As Seoul Scrambles To Get Deal Done

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will reportedly skip the “2+2” meeting touted by Seoul’s Finance Ministry due to a scheduling conflict.

The development comes even as South Korea steps up efforts to strike a trade deal with the U.S. before the Aug. 1 deadline set by President Trump.

Following Japan’s trade deal, which lowers the levy to 15% on exports to the U.S., South Korea has been under pressure to negotiate a rate equal to or lower than this. In the event of a “no deal,” a 25% rate would apply, starting in August.  

South Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan is currently in Washington, along with a high-level delegation, for negotiations. 

The 2+2 meeting, involving South Korea's Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, along with their U.S. counterparts, Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, was originally scheduled to take place on Friday.

The South Korean Kospi ended Thursday’s session up 0.13%.

While the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has gained 8.9% this year, the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) has surged up over 45%.

A Bloomberg report, citing a communication from the South Korean Finance Ministry on Thursday, said the meeting has now been postponed.

The report stated that the South Korean trade minister and Greer would still meet this week, although the timing had not been finalized yet.

Bessent’s absence could take some of the momentum out of the bilateral talks, but Seoul looks forward to pressing ahead with Yeo, who has been designated as the chief negotiator.

 Jeong Woo Park, a Nomura Holdings economist, said, “From the US perspective, they probably don’t view the Korea discussions as urgent since they have successfully wrapped up their talks with Japan," according to Bloomberg.

Yonhap reported Wednesday that South Korea will likely discuss its ban on American beef from cattle 30 months old or older, proposed online platform regulations, and restrictions on the export of high-precision map data.

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